Ruby Rock-It’s booth at the Winter Craft & Hobby show in January was just packed to the brim with pretty! They had a really cute wrought iron gazebo in the center of the action, and their Design Team filled every shelf with gorgeous projects that warranted looooong periods of lingering in the booth to admire.

They have an extensive line of lovely papers and embellishments for cardmaking, scrapbooking, and general crafts. Rachel Carlson, Ruby Rock-It’s Marketing Director, took some time to show me their new Stepper cards and their gorgeous Decoupage dimensional elements.

Stepper cards are pre-scored pop-up cards in a “stair step” shape that come with matching envelopes. In just 4 easy steps, you have a beautiful and unique greeting card!

1. Fold the Stepper card along the score lines and press with a bone folder.

2. Adhere background paper(s) to the larger back panel and to the smaller front panel.

3. Embellish one corner of the front panel with a multi-layered Ruby Rock-It Decoupage image, using dimensional foam dots or squares.

4. Add a sticker or stamp with your desired sentiment on the front panel.

Now here’s your chance to win a lovely selection of Ruby Rock-It papers and embellishments! Leave a comment here for your chance to win…deadline to enter is 3/24/13. (Contest open to residents of USA only.)

2. Wrap and secure end of wire on back of crown. Wrap wire several times around, across and up and down around crown. This will add stability and interest.

3. With a piece of 22 gauge wire secured at back, add beads to wire and wrap around crown vertically, aligning beads to fit that particular section of crown. Continue to wrap and add beads for desire pattern on crown.

4. Cut 22 gauge wire to approximately 12″. Glue butterfly stickers back-to-back on end of wire. Swirl end to create visual interest and glue or wire to crown.

Savannah Starr shares how to transform butterfly picks into BIG fashion earrings! Be sure to check the floral department of your local craft store to see what floral pick treasures you can find. You never know where inspiration will strike! Featured on Cool2Craft TV.

Glue flowers and leaves into moss. Let dry for approximately 1/2 hour.

Gently place entire piece into jar.

Repeat gluing process with Aleene’s Tacky Double Stick Sheets to make second scrapbook paper covered cardboard for lid of jar.

Using lid as pattern, cut one circle of decorative doublesided cardstock. Tape clear monofilament line to back of butterfly.

Punch small hole in cardstock. Insert monofilament line through hole, adjust length of line so that butterfly hangs inside jar without touching. Tape monofilament in place on cardstock. Cut away excess monofilament.

Cut two layers of brown bag. Trace a butterfly design on one piece. (Note that you will trace the butterfly wings separately and the butterfly body separately. These pieces will be layered after they are burned.)

Squeeze Aleene’s Tacky Glue onto the piece of brown bag without the pattern.

Use squeegee to spread out the glue evenly.

Place a piece of wire into the glue and then place the brown bag pattern over the wire. (This wire is what you will hold on to while burning the glue but will be removed in a later step.) Press both pieces together with fingers.

Let set for a few minutes and then use scissors to cut along pattern line. Gently shape the brown bag to give a slight curve to the wings. Let dry overnight.

To create the burned effect, cover one side of butterfly with Aleene’s Tacky Glue. Be sure to cover the entire side of the bag with a generous (but not drippy) coat of glue. You do not want any bag showing.

Note: Be sure to do this next step in a well ventilated area as there is soot that will rise from the candle flame.
Light candle and carefully hold wet glue side down over the candle flame. It works best if the glued side just slightly touches the tip of the flame. Keep the butterfly moving in circles.

Check every few seconds to see the progress of burning the glue. You will see the surface of the glue start to get darker and sooty. Continue to burn until the entire surface of the glue is black and sooty. Set aside to dry for several hours. Repeat glue application and burning process on back side of butterfly. Let set for several hours.

Remove or cut wire from butterfly. Use paper towel to gently wipe away the soot to reveal a slightly shiny surface. If the glue is still wet underneath the surface, you can gently press on it to create interesting texture but do not break through the skin of the glue.

Apply a light coat of Rub n Buff with finger to highlight the texture of the surface of the butterfly.

Create butterfly body in same manner and glue in place over wings. Let dry.

I glued a wire loop to the back of my butterfly in order to hang on to a necklace. I also created wire antennae and glued them to the butterfly head.

To create the butterfly canvas, paint a mini canvas desired color. Let dry. Dip pencil eraser into white paint and dot around edge of canvas. Be sure to create a generous dot. After about 1 hour, use a wet wipe to remove any paint that has not dried. Because you applied a thick dot, the paint in the center should still be wet and will easily wipe away to reveal a circle within a circle design. Let dry.

I made these little guys when I was in 6th or 7th grade and thought I’d brag about how talented I was even back then. Okay, seriously now: I love how they turned out, they’ve decorated different pots of plants since then and they still look very nice.Visit my blog!

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One of the items on my to do list this year is to get back into sewing. I was an avid sewer in my teenage years but as time went by, my sewing machine seemed to find its way to the back of my studio. … [read more...]